Our Gap Year students benefit from involvement in all aspects of patient care, trained by a team of expert professionals. Students will gain experience in patient interviews, including taking a medical history from patients. They will develop skills for delivering results to patients, interacting with modern electronic health records, and assisting in surgery. Students will develop lifelong friendship with their peers in the program and with faculty mentors.
During surgical procedures, students will learn how to scrub into surgery while maintaining a sterile field. They will learn to set up a sterile surgical tray and keep the surgical field sterile and organized. Gap year team students will also be taught how to communicate with patients and answer their questions regarding what to expect from the procedure. By the end of the year, students will be responsible for dressing wounds and for teaching patients about wound care.
Our students learn how to prepare and then administer complex allergy patch tests. They assist the nursing team in educating patients about cutting-edge biologic pharmaceuticals. By the end of the gap year, student become skilled educators themselves, training the next class of students.
Central Connecticut Dermatology hosts monthly seminars for our Gap Year Students. Our panel of speakers includes our team of superb dermatology professionals, award-winning physician teachers, and previous graduates. Seminars include advice from our providers on preparing a successful professional school application, managing complex patient care, and discussing disease look-alikes in Dr. Finch’s “Dermatologic Doppelgangers” lecture. Outstanding Gap Year graduates will be invited back to speak to the incoming class of students. Former Gap Year graduates return each year to provide talks – for example, “Getting into and Surviving Your First Year of Medical School.”
An annual party marks a celebratory end to the year, and has in past years included a suite rental at the Hartford Yard Goats baseball game or food and drink at the Farmington Polo Club,